Friday, December 31, 2004

Guardian files for release of legal advice on Iraq invasion

The Guardian is today reporting that it has filed a request to view the legal advice given by the attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, on the legality of the invasion of Iraq.

But in practice, there are expected to be numerous complaints. Apart from the controversial ministerial veto, a major problem has already arisen over "commercial confidentiality".
Whitehall succumbed before Christmas to lobbying from arms firms to water down the guidance to the officials who have to decide whether to release files containing information about commercial organisations.

This, it seems will be the first major test of how the Freedom of Information Act really works, and whether or not the government are serious about allowing the public access to information such as this.